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Twitter's Slow Road to IPO

Persuading People to Use Its Web Service is the Easy Part; Winning Over Advertisers is Proving Tricky

By

Shira Ovide and

Emily Glazer

Updated March 2, 2012 2:42 p.m. ET

In just six years Twitter Inc. has become the world's digital soapbox, amassing more than 100 million monthly users—from everyday people to Lady Gaga to Middle East protesters—who use the service to spread pithy updates and breaking news.

Yet despite the service's growing influence on society and culture, the business behind it still has a ways to go until it's ready for an initial public offering.

To...

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